Burial casket



Sept. 3, 1957 F. R. HOSTETLER BURIAL. CASKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug.19, 1955 Fig.1.

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Sept. 3, 1957 F. R. HOSTETLER v BURIAL CASKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledAug. 19, 1955 INVENTOR. Fumes ZHQs EmLiR BY 6m ATTQQNEYs BURIAL CASKET.Francis'R. Hostetler, Alexandria, Ind. Application Angust 19, 1955,Serial No. 529,561 2 Claims. (Cl. 2'7 -2) This invention relates tocaskets, and more particularly to an improved burial casket of the typeprovided with a removable top cover which makes a moisture-tightconnection with the main body of the casket.

A main object of the invention is toprovide a novel and improved burialcasket which is simple in construction, which is moisture-tight, whichis completely Varmint proof and sealed against entry by insects, whichwill not decay, and which is easy to transport.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved burialcasket which may be used either with or without an associated vault orauxiliary box, said casket being relatively inexpensive to manufacture,being durable in construction, providing a moisture-tight an airtightseal, and being provided with conveniently accessible handle means tofacilitate the lifting and transportation thereof.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational View, partly in vertical cross section,of an improved burial casket constructed in accordance with the presentinvention.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical cross sectional view taken on the line2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross sectional detail view taken on the line3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross sectional detail view taken on the line 44of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the component parts of the improvedburial casket of Figures 1 to 4, said parts being shown in separatedpositions, a portion of the cover of the casket being broken away toillustrate structural details thereof.

Referring to the drawings, the improved casket is designated generallyat 11 and comprises a main body 12 in the form of a generallyrectangular receptacle having a bottom wall 13, side walls 14, 14 andend walls 15, 15. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the side and end wallsmay be bowed outwardly, whereby said walls define concave insidesurfaces, and vertical brace ribs 16 may be provided internally of thewalls to strengthen said walls. The external surfaces of the side walls14, 14 are formed with spaced ribs 17, to strengthen the wallsexternally, and said ribs are formed at their intermediate portions withlugs 18 through which extend longitudinal handle rods 19 of suitablemetal or other rigid material. The end walls are formed with parallelvertical lugs 20, 20 through which extend handle rods 21 which may bemade of the same material as the rods 19. Thus, the main body 12 isprovided with the longitudinal handle rods 19 at its opposite sides andwith the transverse handle rods 21 at its opposite ends, facilitatingthe lifting and transporting of said main body.

The main body 12 is formed with an outwardly extending horizontal flatperipheral flange 22, said flange projecting from the upper portions ofthe side walls 14 nited States Patent and end walls 15 and extendingcontinuously around the receptacle defined by the main body 12, theouter surfaces of the side and end Walls above the flange 22 beinginclined upwardly and inwardly, as shown at 23, to define an externallyupwardly tapering n'm 24 around the receptacle defined by body 12.

Designated at 25 is an arched cover member shaped to fit about upwardlytapering rim 24, the cover member 25 being formed with a flat peripheralhorizontal base flange 26 which is sealingly engageable on the topsurface of the peripheral flange 22 of the main receptacle body 12. Asshown in Figure 2, the bottom surface of the flange 26 makes intimatesurface contact with the top surface of the flange 22, and the insidesurface of the cover adjacent the flange 26 makes intimate sealingcontact with the sloping surfaces 23 of the top rim 24.

The cover member 25 is formed above the flange 26 with a rib 25'extending completely around the cover member, serving as a means tograsp and hold the cover member when the cover member is to be lifted ortransported.

The longitudinal side portions of the flange 22 are formed with aplurality of spaced recesses 27 over which are secured apertured lockingplates 28, defining underout looking cavities beneath the apertures ofthe plates.

Secured to the flange 26 of the cover 25 are respective depending,laterally yieldable resilient prong members 30 having their resilientdepending prong portions located to engage through the apertures in theplates 28 and to be received in the undercut recesses definedtherebeneath, as shown in Figure 3. Thus, the prongs 30 may comprisethreaded shanks 31 threadedly secured in the flange 26 and formed withrespective diamond-shaped loops 32, said loops being laterallycompressible to engage through the apertures in the plates 28 when thecover 25 is lowered onto the peripheral flange 22 of main body 12, theloops 32 expanding in the undercut recesses to lockingly secure thecover on flange 22. It is to be noted that the apertured plates 28 onthe receptacle flange 22 and the resilient prong members 30 on the coverflange 26 constitute releasable interlocking means on said receptacleand cover flanges for holding the cover 25 in position on the receptacle10.

The cover 25 is centrally formed with an opening in which is threadedlysecured an internally threaded bushing 33 adapted to receive a threadedplug 34. The plug 34 is removed when the cover 25 is placed over the rim24 on the flange 22, to allow air to pass freely through the bushing 33.After the cover is in sealing position, the plug 34 is engaged in thebushing 33 and is tightened to completely seal the casket with respectto the external atmosphere.

It will be understood that the plug 34 is removable when the cover 25 isto be disengaged from the main body 12 of the casket, to allow freemovement of air through the cover under these conditions.

The upper portions of the inner surfaces of the side and end walls ofbody 12 are formed to define a plurality of continuous internal V-shapedgrooves spaced one above the other. A flexible shield is disposed Withinand extends around the interior of the receptacle 12. The shieldembodies a pair of flexible sheet segments 36 and 37 arranged inconfronting end to end relation, the shield segment 36 being fabricatedof flexible opaque material and the shield segment 37 being fabricatedof flexible transparent material. The segment 36 has extending along theconfronting end an upwardly facing channel 38 which is interengaged witha smaller upwardly facing channel extending along the confronting end ofthe segment 37. The bounding edge portions of the segments 36 and 37 andof the interengaged channels are seated in the base wall of one of thegrooves 35. As will be readily apparent, the transparent shield section37 provides a view of the interior of the receptacle when the shieldsections are in place.

As shown in Figures 1 and 5, the top cover 25 has a generally archedshape and is provided on its inside surface with a plurality of braceribs 40 extending transversely thereacross to strengthen the top wall ofthe cover.

The main body 12 of the casket and the cover 25 may be formed of anysuitable material, such as plastic, glass, enamelware, porcelain,copper, stainless steel, or any other suitable material, includingceramic material. The handle rods 19 and 21 may be formed of anysuitable non-corrosive metal, and may be chromium plated or galvanized,to prevent corrosion thereof.

While a specific embodiment of an improved burial casket has beendisclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood thatvarious modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur tothose skilled in the art, Therefore, it is intended that no limitationsbe placed on the invention, except as defined by the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A burial casket comprising a receptacle having a bottom wall, a pairof side walls rising from said bottom wall, and an end wall extendingbetween each of the adjacent ends of said side walls and secured to saidside walls and said bottom wall, an upstanding rim extendingcontinuously about the top edges of said side and end walls, said rimhaving the exterior surface sloping upwardly, a horizontal flat flangeextending exteriorly continuously about said side and end walls adjacentto and below the lower end of said rim, an arched cover member shaped toconformably fit about said rim and having a fiat horizontal flangeextending about the perimeter thereof positioned upon said receptacle sothat it sealingly engages said rim with the base of the flange engagingwith said receptacle flange, releasable interlocking means on saidreceptacle and cover flanges for holding said cover in position on saidreceptacle, the inner surface of said side and end walls having acontinuous V-shaped groove, said groove being located below and adjacentthe top of said rim, and a flexible shield disposed within and extendingaround the interior of said receptacle, said shield embodying a pair offlexible sheet segments arranged in confronting end to end relation, oneof said segments having extending along the confronting end an upwardlyfacing channel and the other of said segments having extending along theconfronting end a smaller upwardly facing channel interengaging withsaid first named channel, the bounding edge portions of said segmentsand of the interengaged channels being seated in the base wall of saidgroove.

2. The casket according to claim 1 in which one of said segments isfabricated of flexible opaque material and the other of said segments isfabricated of transparent material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS384,701 Mahon et al. June 19, 1888 417,619 Woodard Dec. 17, 18891,012,863 Killian Dec. 26, 1911 1,421,018 Mesker June 27, 1922 1,833,959Wells Dec. 1, 1931 2,511,871 Paden June 20, 1950

